


Fairy Ring

by Ysavvryl



Category: Shin Megami Tensei II
Genre: Drugs, F/M, Implied/Referenced Dubious Consent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-12
Updated: 2019-09-12
Packaged: 2020-10-17 03:20:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20614103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ysavvryl/pseuds/Ysavvryl
Summary: This is not a nice story.





	Fairy Ring

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Laylah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laylah/gifts).

> I'm more familiar with use of the name Anoon over Hanoun, and so used that here.

When the fairies meant to have a celebration, they did not hold back. Fine foods and finer drinks were plentiful, as long as one didn’t ask where they’d come from. Every costume was elaborate, with sparkling masks, vibrantly colored feathers, beautiful colors and fabrics, and loads of jewels. If a guest arrived without a costume to fit in, they soon found themselves in one. There were songs played that took hours to complete and no restrictions on what festivities one sought. There were raucous conversations, endless laughs, and the atmosphere of an infinite dream.

She had his hand, of course, and his heart. He did not want to part from her, nor give his attention to anyone but her. With her smile as the light of his life, she led him through the party from one enchantment to the next until he was walking amid fragrant clouds and all were shadows but her. There was a ring of brightly colored mushrooms that kept catching his eyes, though. They’d pass through and it would seem as though his body was not his own. Not that it mattered, as long as she kept his hand and smiled. And they danced: a twirl of fragrance, a swirl of color, one phantasm after another.

Then it all went dark as pain invaded his body.

It was still there when he woke up, intense pain in his legs as if they’d been torn to shreds. Daleth could hardly think again, but there was no way this was pleasant. However, she was there. She had him in their home, stripped down lying on a bed as she applied something cold to his legs. She was the most beautiful being, with natural grace and long silken hair. With her being the only thing he could focus on outside the pain, he reached out for her.

“Oh? You’re awake.” Anoon looked over and smiled, worry in her eyes as she laced her fingers between his. “But you needn’t be. Sleep and my medicine will take care of you.”

He tried to reply, but only a faint murmur of nothing would come out. Daleth closed his eyes and tried to ignore the pain. Moments later, a flowery scent filled his head and sent him back into dreams.

After a few more times of wakening back to sleep, the pain was mostly gone. But his legs felt like lead, not moving however he tried. “You collapsed in a fairy ring at the last big party,” Anoon finally explained to him while seated on the edge of the bed. “It wasn’t the first time, but you wouldn’t get back up even though you were awake. Then I found out your leg muscles got all torn up from the dancing… oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize anything was wrong!” She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

A terrible guilt ran through Daleth’s mind for being the reason for her tears. “It’s fine, don’t be so sad,” he said, shifting his weight carefully so he could hug her from behind even though his legs weren’t working. “I probably should’ve said something to not worry you like this.” Although, what memories he had of the party were vague and glittering. “I’m sorry, please don’t cry.”

“I didn’t want you hurt,” she said, leaning her head against his. “But I’ll take care of you; I’ll find some way to get you walking again.”

Until then, he had to accept getting around in a wheelchair that a smith had put together on hearing of his condition. He helped out around the apothecary as usual. And not as usual, since he couldn’t lift heavy things or stock the higher shelves, or go out to challenge demons for the ingredients Anoon needed for her potions. Daleth smiled and handled the sales most days, all the while feeling useless and pitiful. But Anoon was there and that truly made him happy.

Yes, happy…

She was out with a friend gathering ingredients when his mind drifted back to when he’d met her. Not when he’d first met her; those days were a shadowy blur too. Then something changed his sight of her and completely enthralled him. It was… the Infidelily Sap, wasn’t it? Yes, now he remembered. Those days he was filled with hate and anger, grief and guilt. There was another woman he’d adored before; she died in the arms of his rival, with the fatal blood on his hands. But it was Aleph’s fault! No, it had been his own doing. Daleth was supposed to be better than Aleph in every way. He had been told as much. But the proof on the field of battle was that Aleph always bested Daleth.

He had been told that he was marked as a Messiah. He was told that he was to save the world from absolute ruin. When they declared that Aleph was the Messiah instead, over the body of Beth, whom they’d both adored but she chose Aleph instead… Daleth did not want to accept it. He wanted to ruin his twin in any way possible. No, not his twin, he should be less than a twin. But Aleph wasn’t. He had another woman traveling with him before long, one who seemed to be his partner. He was also growing ever stronger, at a pace that Daleth could not keep up with, as much as he hated it.

That was when he’d met the fairies and came up with his plan. Infidelily Sap. It made a person who got it on their skin madly in love with whomever was first in their sight. It didn’t matter who that was, human, demon, indescribable monster; the victim would love them and think of nothing else. While he had toyed with the idea of giving Aleph something horrific to love, he’d decided instead on a shy elf girl who seemed fascinated with humans. With Aleph in love with Anoon, he would be unable to complete his quest as a Messiah and Daleth could finally fulfill his destiny.

But no, it didn’t work that way. Aleph’s partner got sapped instead, falling madly in love with Daleth and chasing him all over town until she cornered him in a room. Fortunately, he’d managed to keep her hands off him for the most part. Unfortunately, she’d turned on him in a blink once the infatuation was broken by Oberon. She seemed like she might slay him for being a pervert when Anoon stepped in and… none of it mattered after that. His life before was nothing but a nightmare and he finally found a beautiful dream with a beautiful woman. Never mind that she was an elf and he was a human; he loved her with everything he had and she loved him in return.

She’d used the Infidelily Sap on him

And the nightmares were coming back.

It was too late to fulfill his destiny and he was now helpless.

Daleth’s head ached, but the medicine he took did little for it. His hands smelled of blood even though he washed them several times. Thankfully, no one came in. They were probably peering in through the windows, laughing at his pitiful state. Who would ever think he was a Messiah now? They probably thought he was useless trash who should have been killed at the Colosseum. And he should have because he’d screwed up beyond saving then. He’d disappointed all the people who had raised him up to be their savior.

Those people… who were those people? It seemed so long ago and the memories felt flimsy. When he tried to think of them, he remembered faceless figures and scenery that never moved. Unreal dreams. Wasn’t there something Aleph sometimes said? Now that they were friends and Daleth could not hate anyone while he loved Anoon (did he love her?), Aleph would come to talk to him. He would say that they weren’t human either. They were created humans. Most unmutated humans were probably created humans these days. However, there were five of them with implanted memories and enhanced abilities. The five who were to stage the world’s salvation in accordance to a plan by the Center’s elders. A plan that Aleph had completely denied by siding with Lucifer instead.

The bell over the door jangled, a sharp sound to his pained mind. Anoon was laughing, but that sound did not bring its usual bliss. And, Aleph was with her. She soon yelped and rushed over to him. “Daleth? Darling, what’s wrong?”

“The people out there are laughing at me, aren’t they?” he asked, suddenly frightened of what they might do. “Because I’m a failure.”

“No, that’s not it,” she said, looking into his face.

“Don’t special enchantments break really badly if they fail on their own?” Aleph asked, also concerned.

“Um…” Anoon laughed nervously, then patted Daleth’s shoulder. “Stay here, I need to go pick something else up, from a friend. I won’t be long.”

“Anoon,” Aleph said, like he might rebuke her.

“It’s fine, it’s fine, just stay with him a bit, I’ll be fine on my own! Put him to sleep if he seems any worse.” Then she grabbed an empty basket and ran off.

Aleph sighed, then brought a chair over to sit near him. “Daleth, can you…?”

“Don’t look at me,” he said, looking away on his own. But although he remembered a rivalry with Aleph, a hatred of him, those feelings didn’t resurface. “I’m terrible, aren’t I? We’re… we’re both fake, was it?” Daleth looked back over at Aleph, wondering if he should have tried helping him more.

“We’re real people,” he said. “But created in chemical vats from specialized genomes, then implanted with false memories and knowledge. It was all staged, but that stage is no longer there.”

“But then what of me is real? It’s all been nightmares and dreams, which I only just realized. What’s really going on?”

Aleph took his hand and patted it. “Calm down, please. There’s something I need to tell you. Take a deep breath now.” He talked Daleth through breathing until it overcame his thoughts.

“Thanks, but my mind is still a mess,” Daleth said, feeling tired now too.

“It’s fine, I’d be surprised if it wasn’t,” he said. “I have to apologize to you for leaving you in this situation. I thought it was for the best, but I’ve started questioning that lately. At first, she just used some strange sap to make you infatuated with her. Then you became obsessed and she kept giving you some potion to keep you in love with her. Anoon is a nice person, but I’ve been wondering if how you’ve been the past few years is really you. But she won’t accept that she might be wrong in drugging you for your love. Since the enchantment broke, you have a chance to leave her now and figure out who you really are and what you really want. Your obsession with her and obeying her has led to you being in this wheelchair.”

“I’m happy to obey her, she’s wonderful,” Daleth said, although it didn’t have the same feelings as before.

“Are you really?”

Daleth wasn’t sure how to answer that. He wanted Anoon’s attention back on him; the lack of it was a gaping hole in his heart. But if he got it back, he knew everything would be a dream again. He didn’t care about himself, his past, or anything but pleasing Anoon in the dreams. He could always return to her once he figured some things out. But what would he do? He couldn’t walk and the hole in his heart was painful too.

Before they could discuss things more, Anoon returned. “I’m terribly sorry, Aleph, but I need to apply medicines to his legs,” she said. “If you don’t mind…”

“Sure, but again, I think he should decide for himself, with some more time,” Aleph said. “We can talk more later, Daleth.”

He should hate him, but Daleth didn’t feel anything for Aleph. Maybe some gratitude for calming him. “Right, see you later Aleph.”

Once he was gone, Anoon put a kettle on the stove. “I’ll mix you up some tea as well,” she said. “It’ll help you relax. Um, what were you talking about with him?”

“How I’m a fake and I’m not sure what’s real about my life anymore,” he said, feeling some of his earlier panic again.

She came over to his side and hugged him; her long hair spread across his vision. “Oh, you don’t need to worry about that. I love you, and I don’t care about any of it. In my eyes, you’re a wonderful man who deserves to be happy. So I’ll take good care of you and make you happy.”

When he breathed in, the scent of many herbs filled his mind. He’d be fine as long as he was with her. Right? There were doubts now that made him wonder if he should leave for a while. But then he’d be helpless, in pain, and unsure of who he was and what he should do. If he stayed, none of that would matter. His heart would be full and he’d be happy. That was all that mattered. It’d be better.

Once he finished the tea she made, he was sure of things again. Anoon was the most beautiful and most wonderful woman who existed. He was lucky to be with her; being with her was all he needed to be happy. From then on, no questions mattered. Daleth only had to dedicate his life to her and everything would be okay.

Everything would be fine, even when he never walked again.


End file.
